Julie Marriott, an Independent Avon Advanced Sales Leader from Area 346, is based just

outside Leicester.

How many in your team? I currently have 250 Representatives in my direct team and eight Sales Leaders. I have a further three coming on board for training so it’s a very busy time at the moment!

How and why did you get involved with Avon in the first place? I was brought up with Avon; my mum was a Representative from the late 1960s right up until she died in 1996, so I always say I was an ‘Avon child’! When I got married

in 1982 I became an Independent Avon Representative briefly to help out with the bills and then my banking exams and career took over and I gave up to concentrate on qualifying as a banker.

I became an Independent Avon Representative in July 2007; I had recently lost my job in the voluntary sector, helping parent/carers of disabled children have a voice locally and nationally on issues that affected them. My husband suggested that I become a Representative again, and when I discovered Sales Leadership, I knew it was for me.

What do you do on a typical day? Do you have a routine? My typical day starts at 6.30am; my youngest son Toby has a rare condition called Pitt Hopkins Syndrome and I have to do all his personal care before I start my day when he goes off to school at 9am. From then, until the school day ends, it’s my Avon business, with appointments to sign up new Representatives, follow up appointments, prospecting with the local Avon Area Sales Manager (if I have any downtime), or training with my downline Sales Leaders. I also tend to work a couple of evenings each week, either with a trainee downline doing appointments, or visiting my Representatives who work in the day.

My routine is dictated by leads coming through, or creating leads by prospecting

– I never sit and do nothing. I love prospecting; it’s a great skill to have and teach and the camaraderie between myself and the Avon Area Sales Manager is great – we work hard and have fun doing it, which is how it should be.

How do you promote the Avon opportunity?

I believe everyone should be offered the chance to break free, work for themselves and control their own lives. It’s not for everyone and indeed many say no the first time round, but I continue to offer the opportunity where appropriate and at

regular intervals, which is paying dividends

this year for me.

How has the recent economic situation changed your business or changed the way that you work? I’ve got busier and busier, as more people are exploring the opportunity of Avon as a way of supplementing their earnings in these difficult times. I am also finding that many of my existing Representatives are open

to securing extra territory to increase their sales and are also looking more seriously at Sales Leadership. This can only help to maximise their earnings as well as mine.

I hold regular meetings for my Sales Leaders each campaign to review where we are, where we want to be based on our own personal aspirations, and how we can get there individually and as a team. We’re also putting together a Representative newsletter and doing 'party' training to help maximise earnings and give people a different approach to use.

What are your plans and aspirations?

My plans for this year are

•To consolidate and maximise the earnings from my direct team, getting as many of my Representatives to President’s Club status as possible and to maximise their earnings and mine.

•To achieve Executive Status as soon as possible and support my downline Sales Leaders to grow their teams too.

•To earn enough this year to put some aside for a trip abroad to meet some of the families who have children with the same rare condition that Toby has

(there are only 147 worldwide) which fall into two big clusters mainly in mainland Europe and America/Canada.

Any top tips? Set yourself a goal of how many sign ups you want to do per week/ campaign and try as hard as you can to work to it. No matter how many refusals or set backs you get just keep at it – persistence will pay off in the end. Ask for help if you need it; don’t wallow in misery alone, we all have those ‘duvet days’!